The coronavirus outbreak continues to have ripple effects in the gaming community with different project delays and four members of the My Time at Portia’s Chinese-based development team in quarantine. However, the My Time at Portia development team are also donating all of their February sales to coronavirus relief efforts. While today’s gaming roundup covers that update, it also includes news on the launch of the PlayStation 5 website, LudoNarraCon 2020, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare DLC sales raising over $1.6 million for Australian wildfire relief.
Highlights From This Week's Gaming News
Coronavirus Delays Outer Worlds Switch Port
The Shanghai-based Virtuos Games is developing the Switch port for The Outer Worlds. According to Gilles Langouriex, CEO of Virtuos, the studio is closed until Feb. 10 and deliveries will be delayed by at least a week. He added that staff have not been infected. Private Division, the publisher of The Outer Worlds, also shared that the game will now have a physical cartridge version.
Nintendo Switch shipments delayed due to Coronavirus
Nintendo manufactures a selection of its consoles in China, but production has been pushed back due to the coronavirus outbreak. This delay currently only affects the Japanese market.
LudoNarraCon 2020 Puts The Spotlight on Narrative Games in April 2020
The virtual convention hosted on Steam will feature game demos, sales, behind-the-scenes material, and several narrative games like Neo Cab, Genesis Noir, and Heaven's Vault.
Gears Head Rod Fergusson Leaves to Oversee Diablo at Blizzard
After 15 years with Gears of War, Rod Fergusson is leaving to join Blizzard in March. In his new role, he will oversee projects like Diablo Immortal.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Outback Relief Pack Raises Over $1.6 Million
The funds were gathered from previous sales of the “Outback” pack and all the sales of the “Outback Relief” pack in January. (The “Outback” pack was renamed as the “Outback Relief” pack for the fundraiser.) They will be donated to Direct Relief, a humanitarian aid organization active in countries all over the world.
PS5 Website Launched Ahead of Console's Anticipated Reveal
People can sign up on the website for future updates on the PS5, like news on launch games, price, and release date. The website is currently in English and German.
My Time at Portia Dev Donates February Earnings to Epidemic Relief Effort
Chinese-based Pathea Games announced on the game's Steam page that all proceeds this month will be given to HAN HONG LOVE CHARITY FOUNDATION. The announcement also shared that four Pathea team members are in quarantine, and the rest of the team remain at home to avoid possible infection.
Features and Reviews of the Week
Screenshot Survey: History in the Making
Join TechRaptor for #ScreenshotSaturday to check out a couple of Norse-themed games, a gladiator title with permadeath, and a little blue slime bouncing while the world literally crumbles around them.
The Best Games We Saw at PAX South 2020
Games like Streets of Rage 4, Garden Story, and Dog Airport Game excited TechRaptor the most at this year's PAX South.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore Review
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore delighted TechRaptor with its mix of J-pop tunes, stylish imagery, and engrossing combat. Being a delightful mix of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei, this JRPG has a lot to offer for longtime fans of the genre.
KekRaptor: PS5 'Does and Does Not Have a Price,' Says Jim Ryan, Holding Dead Cat as Example
In our semi-regular satire series, we compare Sony's approach to the PS5's price to the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
Lamentations Of The Flame Princess Review
TechRaptor enjoyed the darkly weird fantasy in Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it for people new to tabletop RPGs.
How Monster Hunter: World's Anti-Cheat for Iceborne Challenged the Modding Scene
The Iceborne expansion included a new anti-cheat system and changes that rendered mods useless. In response, dedicated members of the modding scene teamed up to revive mod functionality with a new tool they made, Stracker's Loader.
What do you think of the Coronavirus outbreak’s continued impact on the gaming community? Any thoughts on Rod Fergusson joining Blizzard? Did you see other news in gaming this week that deserves attention? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
